Henin-Hardenne polishes off a third Paris title

By Bill Scott Jun 10, 2006, 17:45 GMT

Paris - Justine Henin-Hardenne pounded out an efficient 6-4, 6-4 French Open victory over Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova Saturday in a battle of Grand Slam champions to become the first woman to defend the title in a decade.

The 24-year-old, fifth seed produced her double-up feat at Roland Garros 10 years after Steffi Graf won back-to-back in 1995 and 1996.

'There is so much emotion for me today,' said Henin-Hardenne, who lifted her first in Paris in 2003.

'It's extraordinary to win three. This is such an exceptional event for me.'

The performance in one hour, 36 minutes handed the Belgian her career fifth Grand Slam title in seven finals. Kuznetsova has the 2004 US Open title.

'I just lost my chances,' said Kuznetsova, winner of the Miami event in March. 'I had plenty of them during the match.

'I was playing a lot with the spin and I wasn't serving that well.

'It was the same as usual against Justine, similar to our other matches. If you don't use the chance, you don't win the match.'

Henin-Hardenne's win made amends for the Australian Open final just over four months ago, when she quit with illness early in the second set to give France's Amelie Mauresmo the trophy.

'This was my second Grand Slam final this year, and I could win it,' said the Belgian. 'So I am more and more happy today.'

She improved to an overwhelming 11-1 against Kuznetsova and 28-4 at Roland Garros as she played in her 26th major.

'Every time I walk on the court, in a Grand Slam or not, I just try to give my best,' said the winner. 'That's what I've been doing for a couple of years now.

'And it's brought me results.'

Eighth-seeded Kuznetsova, whose only win in the one-way series with her rival came in 2004 in Doha, flirted with a 5-1 first-set deficit before rallying, coming up with a break-back for 2-4 on a double-fault from Henin-Hardenne.

But the battle-tested Belgian ground out the remainder of the 50-minute opener, lifting the lead from Kuznetsova's 21st unforced error.

The Russian, daughter of a famed Olympic cycling family, steadied in the second set, but not enough to make a difference to the Henin-Hardenne juggernaut.

The pair traded early breaks, with Kuznetsova dropping to 3-4 and Henin-Hardenne lifting her arms joyously after victory on her second match point, a Kuznetsova return sprayed out.

'Hopefully we can have another, tougher final,' said a disappointed Kuznetsova, who was presented with her prize by Martina Navratilova, who also received an award from the French federation for 30 years in the game.

Henin-Hardenne finished with 16 winners, 30 unforced errors and four breaks of serve while Kuznetsova committed a massive 38 unforced errors.

Henin-Hardenne joins seven other women who have won Roland Garros three times.